Police have reportedly applied for arrest warrants for the leadership of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP), which has been under investigation on suspicion of engaging in anti-state activities.
According to the legal community and the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) on the 13th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office sought arrest warrants from the court on the 12th for PDP leader Han Myeong-hui and Secretary-General Han Jun-hye.
The move came after the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency applied for pre-arrest warrants on the 11th, citing suspected violations of the National Security Act for forming and operating a pro-enemy organization. The court's warrant review to decide whether to arrest them is scheduled to be held separately in the morning and afternoon on the 16th.
Since 2024, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Security Investigation Division has detected indications that the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) violated the National Security Act and has been conducting a preliminary inquiry. Investigators searched the party's office in August of the same year, and in July of the following year, last year, they summoned party members, including the leader, as suspects for questioning.
Police believe they organized a group that echoed North Korea's claims, led rallies calling for the withdrawal of U.S. Forces Korea, and continued pro-enemy activities by harshly condemning routine South Korea–U.S. joint military exercises as "war drills for a northern invasion." Under the current National Security Act, praising or propagating the movements of an anti-state group, or forming an organization with such purposes, carries strict prison terms.
In response, the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) said, "The so-called 'PDP case' was devised to suppress forces critical of the administration at the stage when the Yoon Suk-yeol insurrectionist forces were planning and pushing an insurrection," adding, "Punishing party officials, who are victims of the insurrection, by disguising them as perpetrators is an inversion of causality."